Jury poised to get Peterson case

Final day of testimony includes 2 doctors — and questions about 'Girls Gone Wild'

Jurors in the Drew Peterson murder trial are expected to begin deliberating next week after hearing the final testimony in the case Thursday.

Prosecutors called high-profile pathologist Dr. Michael Baden and recalled Dr. Mary Case in an attempt to refute expert testimony this week from two defense-hired forensic pathologists who said there was no murder.

And, as there has been most days during the five-week trial, there were some unusual sidelights. On Thursday they included questions about whether a Fox News producer tried to "peddle" an autopsy video of Peterson's drowned wife to the man behind the "Girls Gone Wild" franchise.

Peterson, 58, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, is on trial in the 2004 bathtub drowning of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, 40. Savio's death, which came as the pair underwent a contentious fight over property in their divorce, initially was treated as an accident.

The body of the mother of two was exhumed in 2007 just weeks after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared. After a new autopsy, Savio's death was declared a homicide, and Peterson was charged with murder in 2009. Prosecutors said they believe Peterson also murdered Stacy, but he has not been charged.

Attorneys will hammer out instructions for the jury Friday and are scheduled to give closing arguments Tuesday.

"It's been a grueling five weeks, and we're extremely satisfied with the place that we're at right now," Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said outside court. "And as I said, on Tuesday it will all come to a climax."

Peterson's attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors had failed to prove their case.

"I have never in over a hundred murder cases ever seen a case where there is so much doubt as to how somebody died," defense attorney Steve Greenberg said.

On Thursday, Baden testified that the injuries on Savio's body — including bruising he found on her diaphragm muscle during a third autopsy — could not have come from a single fall in her bathtub. The pathologist, who testified for the defense in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, also said some of Savio's injuries were consistent with a struggle.

Baden dismissed testimony from defense expert Dr. Vincent DiMaio that Savio may have become faint while getting out of the tub, contributing to her slip and fall, as "interesting speculation, but there is no evidence to support it."

The comment was stricken by Judge Edward Burmila after jurors heard it.

Baden also told jurors that bruising he found on Savio's diaphragm, a thin, strong muscle that powers breathing, could have been caused by a strong blow or "a very strong bearhug."

Prosecutors said they believe Peterson used a police chokehold to render Savio unconscious, then drowned her. He then allegedly struck her on the back of the head, perhaps with a police baton, to make it look like an accident, prosecutors have said.

Defense experts testified this week that there was no bruising on the diaphragm and that what Baden saw was an artifact of decomposition.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Ralph Meczyk asked Baden about Steph Watts, a Greta Van Susteren producer who videotaped Baden during the autopsy and took notes for him.

"You were also aware that Mr. Watts tried to peddle this tape to 'Girls Gone Wild?'" Meczyk asked.

"This is the first time I'm hearing that," Baden said. "Obviously that would be totally improper if that were done."

Jurors were later instructed to disregard the exchange after defense attorneys could not produce any evidence that Watts tried to sell the tape. Burmila said he had never heard of the DVDs, which feature college-age women baring their breasts on spring break.

"Earlier in the trial, I admitted my ignorance about what 'chirping' was, and I'm not sure that was a good thing," he said, referring to a cellphone feature. "Now I think it's a very good thing to expose my ignorance of what 'Girls Gone Wild' is."

The judge's comments prompted a roar of laughter in the courtroom.

For prosecutors, perhaps the most crucial testimony of the day came from Case, who testified that evidence to support a defense theory of how Savio may have suffered a severe head injury was lacking.

Case, a specialist in neuropathology, testified that diffuse axonal injury could not have happened in Savio's death because not enough force was generated in her fall and telltale "markers" of intracranial bleeding were missing.